The happiest place on earth, part 1

Early last year, KK asked, and asked, and asked, about when we were going to DisneyWorld. I knew that would take time and planning, and try as I might, I couldn't find a time when one girl wasn't in school. M started summer school three days after KK finished her spring semester. And going to Disney in August wasn't really an option. We looked at fall break, and realized there is no such thing in the county school system. So, it ended up being at Christmas, and we forced the issue by allowing KK to skip three days of school. I wrote a pathetic and obsequious letter to the principal about what a good student she was, and that we needed family time together, blah blah blah. Apparently he laughed and approved it.

We'd never been to Disney at Christmas. I was worried about crowd control, but did my usual thing and tried to book restaurants ahead of time. Normally, this is two or three months ahead of time, but since we didn't get all the details worked out early, it ended up being four weeks ahead. And, I found there was nothing available two weeks ahead of time, so it was a good thing I booked when I did. Disney has an app that allows you to do this, as well as see the line waits, and book FastPasses. 

When travelling with my girls, there is a sense of togetherness we have that is hard to match. Believe it or not, we've never been to Disney by ourselves, and I thought we might get sick of each other by the end, but we didn't!.We stayed at this place called the "B" resort, which is sort of a weird name if you ask me, aren't they good enough to be an "A" resort? 

We spent the first day at Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. The decorations were great, but I have to admit I didn't really pay attention much at first to it. We headed first thing to one of our favorite rides, Expedition Everest. And we rode it twice since they had a single rider line and that was amazing! And it reminded us why we loved Disney so much. We really did our best to get to as many attractions as possible because we knew we'd only be at Animal Kingdom for part of the day. The Lion King show, A Bug's Life, and we stopped by several scenic places to make sure we got some pictures. It was a rush, but we did that and headed to Hollywood Studios. And that's where I noticed the decorations. I got pictures of the tree in front - each park has a huge tree at the front that is unique and beautiful. Of course, we had to go to Rock and Roller Coaster with our fastpass, and Tower of Terror, and we got our first character picture with Goofy in a Santa suit. I just found so many more things to see at this park, maybe because I wasn't rushing around to get to every ride. I was so surprised to see a large-scale nativity scene. There was also a festival of lights show that was incredible. We had to wait for it to start, and everyone lines up on the street like human cattle. It gave us a chance to rest, which I needed after being up til midnight the evening before. After getting more character pictures, we ended the day at the Sci-Fi Dine In Theater, a restaurant where you sit in a car and watch 50s sci-fi movies. Our waiter was from a carribean country, and he kept approaching our car by saying "Alabama!" I think it was meant to be welcoming. I think.

A good day. And more to come.

Boldly Going

I have searched for excellence in many things. The older I get though, the more it seems to slip through my fingers. By that, I don't mean that I care about it less, but rather that I can't seem to do things as well as I used to; it's harder to think intellectually about matters at times; and I can't learn things as fast as I once did. It's a struggle, getting older.

But I also go back to the fact that I don't want to care about excellence less. Rather, I think I care about it even more, but in a different way. I feel like I'm learning to be okay with taking things slower. I feel like it's okay to reflect more before making a decision. It's okay to listen, rather than talk over someone else.

Not everyone is this way. There are some people that have minds that seem to be just as sharp as they used to be. I was in work meetings this week, and I chose to sit back and listen, rather than argue points that I wasn't sure I cared about. Did my behavior mean I cared less about excellence at work? I'm still not sure. Maybe I'm just not sure that the fine points of who-is-in-charge-of-what work mean anything to me.

Last year, I was reading an issue of TableTalk magazine, and I found it quite compelling. It was about the "Ordinary Christian Life." Michael Horton wrote about this in a book called "Ordinary: Sustainable Faith in a Radical, Restless World." I think there seems to be a rebellion in the Christian community against "radical" faith, promoted by David Platt and Francis Chan, to remind believers that it's also okay to be "ordinary." Here is one particularly good passage from Burk Parsons:

The ordinary Christian life is not the opposite of the radical Christian life. The ordinary Christian lifeis a radical life. The ordinary Christian life is a life of daily trusting Christ; daily repenting of our sins; daily abiding in Christ; daily loving Christ; daily dying to self; daily taking up our crosses and following Christ; daily loving God and neighbor; and daily proclaiming the gospel to ourselves, our families, our friends, and our communities. Every Christian is an ordinary Christian, and every ordinary Christian is a radical Christian. 

Here's the link to the whole article: http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/radically-ordinary/.

It seems to me that Burk Parksons and Michael Horton are not saying that it's wrong to live radical, changed lives. I do heartily endorse the idea of living "ordinarily": by God's grace, living under grace and glorifying Him in all we do, especially if it's at work, with kids, and loving others. But I also love seeing God take hold of believers and doing incredible things with them: transplanting them to Los Angeles; enabling them to adopt babies from China; taking them to Spain, Asia, and other locales to spread the gospel. I'm just in awe over how God works differently in everyone's life. Maybe the real problem is that we are jealous. That when we look at others and wish for some particular excitement in ministry to apply to us, we really need to remind ourselves: "That is not my story." When we have to bear the hard times and watch loved ones die of cancer, and wish that wasn't happening, we are enabled to handle it by His grace because: "That is my story." When we are at work, and wondering if we are doing the work that He gives us, we tell ourselves: "This is the story that I have right now. Live it."

I'm still wondering if I'm giving Him the proper glory at work. I'm not sure. But I'm boldly approaching the throne of grace, seeking His will for my life there.

A New Year

I've been reflecting during the holiday season (and the first week of the year) about changes. Changes, they are a'comin.

I often talk about KK having a hard time with changes. I will talk about her reluctance to go to preschool, and how she cried every day for about three months. Then, she had the hardest time with Kindergarten, and wishing she were back at preschool. Ditto with middle school, and high school. But when I look at my own non-checkered and boring past, I can't say that I am much better. Note that I am not living in the big city like my sisters, I really only live two hours away from my parents. And I've been here since I went to college. I've been at the same job for 16 years now. I lived a very single life for about 10 years. Change? I run screaming from it.

This year is smack full of it. KK will be graduating and I will be getting married. And I'm slightly fearful in the same way I'd be fearful if I were starting a new job, or moving to a new town. I'd be questioning my every decision, wondering why I didn't stick it out and persevere in my previous state. It's not that I don't want KK to graduate, or that I don't love my fiance. Quite the contrary. I know this is right. However, in my head, I might be ready for change, but in my heart, I struggle with the flux and feelings and discomfort that come with life changes.

And then thankfully, the word of God penetrates my stubborn consciousness. This is something that doesn't always happen but it calms me like nothing else. From 1 Corinthians 5:17: "The old shall pass away, and the new shall come." We were made into a new creation, and that change was the biggest of all. And I didn't even realize it at the time! Many Christian fictional books present the idea that there is such a peace that comes over you when you become a believer, and people just become gentler and "good" all of a sudden. I didn't have that, and I don't think many believers do. I didn't have that moment of "oh, everything is good now!" It has come from long study and a desire to learn more about Him, and a desire to focus less on me.

How can we handle change? Knowing there is a purpose, and that God will sustain and keep us. Knowing that there are good things coming, and that when there are hard times, that I can lean on Him. Knowing I have memories of the previous way things were, and that I have peace about those times. Knowing that I've had bad times but God worked things out for the good of those who love Him.

No resolutions this year. Just a desire to hang on for the roller coaster ride and enjoy it.

From Ecclesiastes 3:

1For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

2a time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

3a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6a time to seek, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

7a time to tear, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

8a time to love, and a time to hate;

a time for war, and a time for peace.